The photovoltaic efficiency of dye sensitized solar cell assembled using carbon capsulated TiO2 electrode

Carbon-encapsulated TiO2 was synthesized and its applications to dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were evaluated. When carbon-encapsulated TiO2 was applied to DSSCs as a scattering material, the efficiency was enhanced considerably compared to that using only double-layered, nanometer-sized pure TiO2. The photovoltaic efficiency of the carbon-encapsulated TiO2-DSSCs was approximately 3.59%, while it was 2.87% for the pure TiO2-DSSCs. The quantum efficiencies evaluated from IPCE spectroscopy were better on the carbon-encapsulated TiO2-DSSCs compared to of a TiO2-DSSCs. PL spectroscopy showed that the rate of recombination between the holes and electrons on the carbon-encapsulated TiO2 were lower than that on pure TiO2.